It takes a village
by Thatoneguywhocan'twrite
Summary: Dante and Lady manage to get together, settle down, and have a beautiful daughter, Kalina Nelleva. However, they're far from parenting her alone, Kalina grows up and is influenced by the loving family known only as Devil May Cry, as well as her bladed grumpy best friend, the sword Alastor.
1. Chapter 1

_Dante had looked down at the small newborn girl, gently snoring in her crib and seemingly unaware of his appearance. If any of the makeshift family known as crew of Devil May Cry had been asked, they'd all tell the same story. The stoic silver haired mercenary had been all but out of character these past few months. It wasn't that his usual confidence and quick wit were gone, no far from it, however they had masked far more insecurity and fear than they usually had to bear these past few months._

_It had been more of a living hell for him than the underworld could ever be. He had his name changed to legally be 'Dante Redgrave' by the courts, actually went to the book store for a change for books on parenting which he would hide behind his usual busty babe magazines, he had to get more serious about his developing relationship with Lady than ever. Hell, he even ended up taking so many jobs, he exhausted his demonic strength in order to make ends meet while the woman focused on the child in her._

_However, earlier that week, when he saw the red and blue eyes that ran through his family, staring back at him in the same beautiful mismatched style as the child's mother, shining brightly with the vibrant glisten of new innocent life, he knew it was all worth it._

_Kalina Nelleva Redgrave was worth it.  
_

Remembering this moment, Dante gave a glare that could be described only as soul piercing to the gothic looking sword, coursing with a dark and unnatural lightning in his hand as he removed it from it's shelf.

"Promise me, Alastor, you're not gonna try any of your rebellious junk with Kalina just because I'm not present.", he gripped the handle tighter as the shadowy and bitter voice of Alastor began to echo to both his mind and soul.

"Rebellious, what choice words. As much as I hate the way you've groomed me to be that child's toy, I must admit, it's far more dignified than the role of another blade on the wall."

The devil hunter could only sigh in response. As annoyed as he was with Alastor, the blade had a point, one that had been taken into consideration when the sword was first decided to be Kalina's blade.

Not only did the Son Of Sparda feel guilty for somewhat mistreating it after the events of Mallet Island. Not only was Alastor instrumental in taking down Mundus, but in terms of the power of his swords, it came third to the Devil Sword Dante, which he still honestly just preferred to call Rebellion, and Yamato.

Kalina seemed more than interested in the blade due to it's role in the heroic tale of her father's battle against Mundus, if she had her soul bound to it, she'd most certainly unlock it's further potential.

"The youth's first hunt on her own. It would seem not too long ago that you and your wife had agreed to forbid her from such endeavors.", the sword had a slight change in tone that sounded like it was leaning almost towards taunting, despite still falling in the boundaries of it's usual neutral tone. As if on cue, Dante could hear Lady in the other room.

"Look, what if your ability to conjure bullets runs out? We still don't know entirely how it works! I'm just asking you to be the smart person that your father isn't and take an ammo belt in case!"

He watched as the girl of the hour walked into her room, having a poker face so effective that even Vergil would fold. Though Dante hid it behind his own poker face, he couldn't help but be proud watching his fourteen year old daughter wear the hunting outfit that 'Aunt Trish' had made for her.

She wore her silver hair, usually styled in a naturally more wild version of her maternal grandmother's in a neat ponytail. In size, she was shorter than her father at her age,standing at least a head shorter and barely surpassing the 5 foot mark, though she likely had a grown spurt left. Most notably though, her outfit was essentially a combination of the normally conflicting styles of her parents.

From her mother's side, the outfit was clearly practical, there was no coat like her father, uncle, and cousin. The pants fit tight at the ankles and the shirt at the wrists, with no room to be grabbed or get snagged on something. She wore two belts, one slung across her shoulder and hugging her torso and one across her waist, the one across her waist had two holsters at her hips, each with a small sub machine gun laid comfortably in them, courtesy of Nicoletta Goldstein, Meanwhile, she seemed to have a full sword sheath designed custom fit for Alastor's blade across her back, as opposed to the simple strap her father used for his Rebellion.

From her father's side, the outfit clearly had style in mind, both her shirt and her pants were a flashy purple, the shade had a slight regal feeling due to Vergil's influence. In this regard the outfit looked like a coat-less version of what her father usually had her aunt. Nico used her father's old Gilgamesh greaves in order to line the soles of a pair of brown leather cowboy boots with wing decals on the ankles. Not sacrificing substance for style, she had the metal enchanted to help her with landings, running, and other movement that would normally prove difficult with the heeled boots. Unlike her mother who tended to wear tactical shades in battles with heavy firepower, she proudly flaunted her blood red and light sapphire eyes, in fact, there was a specific decal on the back of her vest flaunting these two colors in an X shape with the a dark violet in the middle where they met.

Behind her, Lady practically stomped in with a small leather pouch, the sound of SMG ammo clinking could be heard as she quickly held it up.

"Come on Kalina, just this one pouch. Better safe than sorry.", it was clear from his wife's voice, she was trying to remain calm and collected as she walked around and in front of Kalina.

The teenager only sighed, merely placing a hand to her mother's shoulder and gently pushing her to the side as she held a hand out to her father.

"Dad, mind handing me Last? The longer I'm stalled, the longer the convention hall is closed down."

Dante gave a light smirk as he calmly handed his daughter the blade, simply using his connection with it to send the message.

"No funny business, 'Last'."

With this, he walked over to his wife and calmly gestured for her to follow as he walked out of the room towards the living area.

"Don't you start lecturing me on being overprotective of her. MIster 'I was planning to secretly tag along until a few minutes ago'.", Lady had crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow at her husband. "Trish, Morrison, and Enzo gave me that one already."

"Vergil did for me.", Dante replied plainly as he moved to the couch, sitting down and gesturing for his wife to sit next to him. "Nero did over the phone too."

Lady paused at this before giving a sigh. As the names were listed off, there was a simple fact that neither of them had to state, Kalina was their little girl. Not just Dante and Lady's, she was Devil May Cry's little girl. The first member in their makeshift family to grow up with a full supportive and loving family.

Over the years, both Dante and Lady would screw up a bit as parents. Both had their overprotective moments, albeit Dante tried to play it all off with a cool smile and an excuse. Both had their moments of unpreparedness and freak outs.

Yet, through all those moments, there was always a full family they could rely on. It took a village, and they had the best 'village' two parents of a child with demonic powers could ask for.

Lady simply leaned in to Dante as he put his arm around her, no words about the leap of faith the couple was taking were spoken. Instead, as the two huddled together, only a single word from Dante could be heard.

"Jackpot"


	2. Uncle Vergie

"Mr. Redfield, I assure you, with the rise in occult related incidents, your men would well past benefit if you asked your contractors to begin training in enhancing their firearms with alchemy. Good, I'm glad you see it my way. I'm sorry I cannot attend your wedding to miss Valentine. Have a nice evening.", Vergil hung up on his U.N. contact. He closed his eyes for a brief second, pondering how he had ended up in this position.

After he and Dante found a way out of the demon realm, he had originally insisted he stay in his father's homeland again. He had felt he was far too disconnected from humanity. Dante stopped this course of action, noting that the V seemed to have gained a dominance in Vergil's personality. Dante felt that were he to spend his time in the demon realm, the 'demonic' aspects would regain control of him yet again.

The first thing he did in his first three months was set the record for most PhDs achieved in three months. He had Ivy league degrees in World History, philosophy, religious studies, paranormal studies, and cultural geography. After this, the productivity didn't cease, he had written an encyclopedia of everything occult from demons to Umbra witches. Though under a pen name, "The New Encyclopedia of the Inferno", quickly became a best seller. Out of a sense of personal guilt, he became the UN's best kept secret, an adviser for the occult phenomena.

However, this trip down memory lane was interrupted as he felt a soft landing in his lap and small hands messing at his well groomed hair and conquistador goatee.

"Uncle Vergie! Uncle Vergie! Are you done on the phone!?", the small seven year old child known as Kalina patted and scratched at her uncle's face, sitting there in a pair of red footie pajamas as she tried yet again to get his attention.

"Uncle Vergil.", he had corrected in a calm manner as he gently grabbed his nieces wrists and moved her hands down to her sides. "Yes, I am."

In truth, Vergil had little to no appreciation for the affection behind the title of 'Uncle', he had read however that children tend to respect elders more when using such titles rather than mere names.

"Uncle Vergie! The TV only plays the news.", the young girl pouted as she did a back flip off of him and onto his artisan coffee table, once used by Russian Tzars, she stamped her foot on it and puffing her cheeks. "Go fix it!"

The elder Son of Sparda scoffed and adjusted his cravat as he got up. In truth, Vergil did own a movie collection he could theoretically show her, however, this included things such as the works of Scorcese and Hitchcock, visionary directors that no child, certainly not the child of a fool like Dante, would enjoy.

He had paused, the child of Dante. That thought alone induced a splitting headache.

Despite reform efforts, Vergil was still a largely solitary man who had only somewhat managed to connect with his own son. Yet he could only imagine what a child of someone like Dante was like. 'Boredom' was likely a curse word, a constant pizza diet with the health effects negated by their demonic blood. So, when Dante had suddenly called and told him of the 'weekend with Uncle Vergil' had been planned, he was naturally reluctant.

Actually, reluctant was the wrong word, he had flat out declined and Dante dropped the girl off at Vergil's small mansion anyway.

Once again, the usually aloof devil hunter had become distracted, being broken out of this trance by the distinct sound of swinging bamboo against the wind. He had opened his eyes to notice the girl playing around with a training sword, a souvenir from his trip to Okinawa. He found it rather odd, the moves she was practicing didn't seem to match that of her father or Nero. She seemed to be swinging more based on generic choreographed movie sword play. Some from knights, some from Samurai.

Sloppy. Pathetic. These were some of the words that came to mind as he watched her swing it around. However, his aloof eye caught something strange, small cracks of light appearing from the blade, not to mention on the ground under her, which she seemed to slide around on.

It all happened far too fast for the girl to process as a flash of regal blue, silver, and gold dashed past her, taking her weapon away from her.

"I don't know your father's policy for his devil arms.", he took a small pause. "Or rather, lack thereof. However, in my household, you are not to touch the weapons or anything for that matter."

Vergil looked the girl dead in the eye, while he was intrigued enough to assess her skill, he certainly wasn't going to let a child run amok around the priceless items he had amassed his home with. He had gestured around the room. It was adorned with artworks from the Renaissance period as well as artifacts from ancient Rome.

"I shouldn't be surprised, his appreciation of our maternal Italian heritage begins and ends with the word 'pizza'."

There was an awkward silence, at least for a good thirty seconds. Vergil wondered if he had intimidated her into silence.

"Uncle Vergil?", the small child spoke up softly. "What's a devil arm?"

* * *

The two had stepped through the portal Yamato had created. Despite his usual calm demeanor, Vergil's eyes contained clear hints of rage as he stepped through the portal.

Of all Dante's foolishness, this had to be the worst by bar. This child knew little of Sparda beyond generic legends, she even had little to no idea of her father's exploits. This was the granddaughter of Sparda, she should be trained from birth to be one of the mightiest warriors that had ever graced the face of the Earth.

Kalina on the other hand, wandered around the room, recognizing the building they were in as her uncle Enzo's shop.

She was in absolute awe of what her father had supposedly been hiding from her. As far as she knew, her father was a mechanic and her mother worked at the shooting range. Perhaps the shooting range would explain the large variety of guns. However, there was a wall, with shelves full of ancient looking weapons that had seemed to give off a strange energy she sometimes only vaguely felt, as if they had tried to talk to her in the past.

"Are these those devil arm things?", she asked in pure awe. Different arms gave her different feelings, some, such as a guitar and a pair of scimitars, gave her a feeling of warmth and family. Meanwhile, others, such as brief case in the corner, gave her a sense of dread and hatred. Distinctly, there were two nearly identical weapons, both were icy three part nunchaku, yet each gave her the opposite feeling.

Somewhat overwhelmed by the room, the child clung to her uncle's leg.

"Yes. They're not just simple weapons either. Understand that what you see is a family legacy. Souls of powerful demons, conquered by your father.", Vergil simply walked through, speaking with a sense of pride as he looked around the room. "I want you to take your pick of which to train with."

Unlike Kalina, almost every Devil Arm that Vergil had looked at gave off some kind of negative emotion. The ones that Dante had from the tower gave off some form of respect, but also pity. Most gave him utter feelings of contempt simply for being the proud son of the Dark Knight Sparda. Many which respected his brother but did not know the Elder son of Sparda seemed to let him know of one thing. He was not forgiven for past transgressions, a sentiment Vergil himself quite shared.

Of course, Vergil kept his cool, returning his eyes to Kalina. He noticed her walking to the Devil Arm that, despite it's state, seemed to give off an air of arrogance, thinking itself better than both of them. The elder son of Sparda immediately recognized it as the blade Alastor, though it seemed not to recognize him in his more human form.

The Devil Arms seemed to change their usual signals, certain arms could hardly contain their excitement, others seemed to be desperately giving off signs of warning.

As Kalina touched the handle of the weapon, the lightning roared to life as a voice could be heard throughout the room. The blade floated into the air and pointed itself at the small girl.

"You bear a similar soul to my master, yet similarity does not deem you worthy... The test shall begin.", it spun in the air, plunging down as blood splattered across the room, a horrible yell of pain being heard.

Kalina only stood there as she saw her 'Uncle Vergil' standing there with the sword in his chest, clenching his teeth together before the electric shock kicked in.

". This blood. This aura.", the sword let out an eerily taunting chuckle as it seemed to shock the impaled Vergil, just for the fun of it. "Nero Angelo. To think you were alive."

Vergil grimaced not only at the physical pain, but the emotional as he stood back up. He wasn't going to let a defiant Devil Arm be the death of any descendant of Sparda, not even the child of a fool like Dante. He began weakly reaching for the handle to pull the blade out of himself.

However, the unexpected had already happened.

"Leave him alone!", he saw the young girl holding on to Alastor's handle as lightning conducted through her, having the demonic guitar Nevan strapped along her back to at least mitigate the electricity.. A strange light was emanating from her hands that seemed to cause the Devil Arm to shriek in pain.

The elder son of Sparda couldn't help but feel a tinge of pride in his niece as he grabbed the blade, pulling it out of himself and swiping the handle from Kalina in an effort to avoid causing her further pain. He had stabbed the blade into the ground with a fury, summoning his Beowulf Gauntlets, which then held it in place.

He looked at the girl with the slightest ghost of a smile. However, she had looked back at him worried, running up and jumping onto him with a hug as his wound healed, sniffling a bit at the horror that had just taken place. For a change, Vergil gently wrapped an arm around her out of obligation if nothing else.

* * *

"Of all your crap.", Dante stood there next to his wife, both having half a mind to kill Vergil. However, Vergil calmly sipped his lavender tea as he sat on his back porch, his eyes occasionally glancing outside to his niece having her own little play tea party with a certain red headed succubus.

"Honestly, Vergil, even after all you've done, I've favored you more responsible than Dante at the least. What gave you the impression this was a good idea in the slightest?", Lady spoke with her arms crossed, this comment earned her a quick eye shift from her husband, but he seemed to regain focus. "You know, she's now dead set on 'making friends with that mean sword'."

Vergil set the tea down and gave a sigh before looking at both of them with nothing but disappointment. He hadn't hidden anything he had done. Far from it, he was just as prepared to lecture them as they were him.

"Stop fooling yourselves.", he spoke plainly as he stood up, gesturing to the girls outside as Nevan transformed into a guitar-sword combination instead of her usual guitar scythe, just small enough for the young girl to wield. Both Dante and Lady looked on in awe at this. "Some things are just inherent to this family."

Dante's head snapped back to Vergil at the second comment.

"Oh blah blah blah, dad's legacy. I should've guessed that's what this was about. It's all about the damn powers to you, right Vergil!?", the younger son of Sparda was beginning to lose it, summoning his own blade in his hand. "Gimme one reason I shouldn't kick your ass right n-"

"What would you have done if they came for her?", the elder brother kept his calm tone, raising an eyebrow. "Let's say, while Enzo, Morrison, Nico, or Patty was babysitting?"

Dante and Lady both paused. It was a question that had come up between them. As much as Dante hated to admit it, it was also a question Vergil was more qualified to answer than either of them.

"Face it, Dante, you can't shield her from her roots, especially not with what they entail."

Without even making a move, Vergil had won this fight. Lady and Dante were now both unable to look him in the eyes, looking somewhat uncomfortably at Kalina swinging Nevan around.

"At the very least though, you could give her the luxury that we never got. Prepare her Dante."

It was now Dante's turn to make a move Vergil didn't see coming. The younger son stepped forward, simply giving his older brother a hug. Vergil freezing up slightly before awkwardly returning it. He had confirmed what Dante had known all along. Despite his distance and coldness, Vergil had cared in his own way.

* * *

This would be the beginning of Kalina's training. Nevan had gladly stayed around the Devil May Cry building to be used as Kalina's training sword. With a little help from Nico, the succubus managed to access the sword form easier.

Kalina made it no secret she wanted to tame the dangerous blade she had seen in Enzo's shop. However, for some reason, the succubus, though extremely close with Kalina, seemed excited for the day when Alastor would become Kalina's main sword.

As for Vergil, though he largely still remained distant, this incident caused him to open up more to the family. He'd occasionally check in by phone, and found himself bonding more with his own son and daughter in law.

He'd even grown more accustomed to the title of 'Uncle Vergil'.

Vergie on the other hand, was to be buried at all costs.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Hey, I'm really appreciative of the favorites and likes, but I'd also love more reviews! Notably about characterization for Kalina, for this chapter she's just a child so obviously there wouldn't be much personality, but as she grows up, I sorta wanna make sure she doesn't come off as too perfect or too much of an arrogant hothead, since that's part of the balancing act for any DMC character.**

**Not to mention, since this story is largely episodic, it'd be fun to see chapters suggested. I have a number of little stories sorta floating in my head. Like Kyrie helping Kalina learn to use the 'Priestess' abilities that you briefly saw in this chapter.**

**Speaking of the reviews, check the reviews for this chapter for little notes I have on how I wanted to portray Vergil here!**


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